


Washed Ashore

by jubah



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 08:03:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7749805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jubah/pseuds/jubah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Círdan is tired and bitter and done with the world, but the world is not done with him yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Washed Ashore

**Author's Note:**

> ps.: This works on the notion that Círdan didn't know or believe that Elwing had survived the attack on Sirion! Just my take on the situation ( for now :) )

 

 

The sea was full of surprises.

That was always one of the first things he taught the youngsters, the aspiring mariners, the refugees who chose to dwell close to the shore. You could predict the tides, but you could never tell what the waves would bring.

Círdan had not expected, that morning, to be told that Eärendil’s three shipmates had washed ashore without their lord, but neither was he truly surprised. He felt as if he didn’t have the energy to be surprised anymore, as if the attack on Sirion had taken everything out of him. Even after the fall of Brithombar and Eglarest, they had hoped to thrive like this: close to the waters where the Music still reverberated, small numbers united in some desperate hope, clinging to the last symbols of a Golden Age that had ended in shadow and ashes for most of their families. But what hope could there be when it turned to elf against elf, again and again? No, Círdan was sure nothing in this world could surprise him anymore.

Eärendil’s men wanted to talk to him, he was told, but he was not looking forward to learning how the man-elf had met his end. Swallowed by the sea, surely. Could it have been an accident? Or had Eärendil heard the echoes of Elwing’s death, and gone to meet her and his parents and wait there for his sons to join them? That thought made his skin crawl. Círdan would have liked to promise himself he would not allow the twins to be lost so young, that he would ransom them, save them, pay whatever price was asked of him for their safety - but this time the lords in the East rewarded his eagerness to act with as much silence as those in the West did, and there was nothing to be done but wait and grieve. And when was the last time he had not been grieving, truthfully? ( _When Eärendil and Elwing married. There was hope in their eyes then, and he had believed in it, foolish as it was._ )

He dismissed the young elf who had given him the news, but silence was always short-lived these days. The sound of running echoed loudly in the hall outside before Gil-galad burst into the room, speaking too loudly and with too much emotion.

“Have you talked to them?” Gil-galad was so nervous he immediately started pacing. It was unnerving, and Círdan wanted silence, but instead he took a deep breath.

“I will, in a moment. You surely can’t be surprised-”

“You haven’t! Círdan, you must- you- we must..!”

Círdan felt drained already, and knew he couldn't take much more. “I know you are upset, I know your last words with Eärendil were harsh, but there will be–”

Gil-galad grabbed his hands so forcefully that Cirdan nearly winced, but when he looked up, what he saw made him flinch. 

Gil was smiling.

“Eärendil is alive, you fool! Alive, alive! And so is Elwing, and they are bringing an army, Círdan! The Valar are coming, a Elbereth!” Gil's voice trembled with emotion. Suddenly he lunged forward and embraced Cirdan the way he used to many years ago, when he was nothing but a child in need of comfort. “They are alive, Círdan, a Elbereth, they are coming…”

Cirdan hugged him back, words made impossible by the laugh that bubbled up in his throat, which was so tight it almost hurt, and the sound was choked by the tears that started falling as he understood what Gil was saying. Alive! The wonder of it all kept him laughing even after his sides had started to hurt.

He had seen the tide bring many strange things ashore, in these long years under the stars. But an answer to his prayers? It would certainly be the first time.

**Author's Note:**

> ❤❤Thank you Kate for being my beta ❤❤


End file.
